How We Collect

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How We Collect

Health Insurance

If we have the non-custodial parent’s current employer we will send a National Medical Support Notice.

Paying The Monthly Obligation

As soon as a child support order is established we will set up accounts in our automated system. When that is done, a wage assignment is sent to the non-custodial parent’s employer to pay the ongoing support amount. This happens immediately and automatically in all cases to ensure the court ordered obligation is paid.

We can also collect from other monthly income sources such as worker’s compensation or social security benefits. If there is any past due balance we will also collect from unemployment or disability benefits. All accounts are submitted to credit reporting. If the account is being paid consistently it will be reported favorably to the agencies. If the account is delinquent, it will be reported as past due.

If Past Due Support Is Owed

Often parents miss payments over the life of the case. If this happens in your case, we have a variety of enforcement methods to attempt to collect the past due balance.

Tax Refunds – Income tax refunds from the federal Internal Revenue Service (IRS) or State of California can be intercepted to pay child support. Refer to the Financial Information tab for more information about tax refunds.

License Suspension – If a monthly payment is missed, our system will submit the non-custodial parent to all state licensing agencies. This includes both driver’s licenses and professional licenses. Once a license is submitted for suspension, the noncustodial parent must contact our office to make payment arrangements for their license to be released.

Bank Levies – Non-custodial parents with a past due balance are submitted to the Financial Institution Data Match (FIDM) program. If a parent who owes past due child support has a bank account, a garnishment will be sent to the bank holding the account.

Real Property Liens – A lien is automatically filed when the noncustodial parent’s address is known. Past due child support must be paid whenever the non-custodial parent buys or sells property.

Other Methods – We may use to enforce a child support order include:

Order of Examination

Contempt of Court

Job Search Order

Other Debts of the Non-Custodial Parent

Court-ordered child support payments are a right of the child. Under state and federal law, the obligation to support the child is the most important obligation owed. Support payments should be taken care of before other bills are paid.

If The Non-Custodial Parent Lives Out of State

California can request help from other states and a number of other countries. Before making a request, we must have an exact address for the other parent and proof from the US Postal Service that the address is correct. The minimum time frame for out-of-state processing is 90 days. The other state or country may have to contact the non-custodial parent personally.

NOTE: As a convenience to our visitors, this page may contain links to external websites that are not managed or controlled by the County of Ventura.